Neighbors and friends, Mike and Mendi, were in need of a new door — two in fact (their bath exterior door is next)... and hit me up while on summer break. However, theirs is a bit more complex. It's a good thing Mike was there to lend a hand yesterday in the install even though, throughout the process, it became clear that it was actually Mendi's door. It was a nice chance to try a fresh install with some new materials.
Their previous door was not original and was converted to a Dutch door at some point by sawing it in half. Worse, it was an 80in door with a 4in filler strip at the top (the original was an 84in door). Worse still is a pesky detail in our carport models that the strike posts seem to not be anchored to the concrete below and are sitting directly on the concrete. This is the second time I've encountered this (first, with Erin's door) and it amazes me that these doors are still functional... nothing short of a toe-nail (or an L-bracket added much later as in this case) seems to be anchoring these posts to the ground. With one swift kick, Mike took out the post. This was fine as the post had seen better days anyway.
The original install was scheduled on Tuesday, but the door shop fell behind and the job became a bit more complex with the replacement of the strike post and adjacent screen support, so we re-scheduled for Saturday. Mike is quite handy and served as a great backup throughout the day and Mendi was there to photograph and provide input.
Hanging a Dutch door isn't easy — this is the 2nd we've done and there's another coming up next week — but this one was either made much easier or more complex (maybe both) because we replaced both the strike post and the hinge-side support 2X4 meaning that it was essentially new construction from the frame out. Instead of matching the door to the house, we matched the house to the door.
It was an all-day job with demo, sanding back to bare wood, prep, replacement of the concrete separation strip, prepping and mounting the door, matching and mounting the post, securing the base, re-building the side screen partition (Mike's domain) and fitting the strike-plates and door hardware.
BamDeck (+ CaliBamboo)
One significant upgrade is the post base which is now quite secure. In a previous post, I'd mentioned BamDeck by CaliBamboo. It's a wood-plastic-composite (WPC) deck material that I'll be using on the new deck. I've already found uses for this material in other places, but it also doubled as a post stand-off. There are off the shelf versions of this, but they're usually fairly bulky. Milling the BamDeck down the 3/8in and utilizing the grooves that were already milled in the material, I created a stand-off so that the post won't come in direct contact with the ground. Coupling with one of the more trim 4X4 post bases, this makes for a more attractive yet very sturdy (and long lasting) mounting option. It also leaves the strike post side as all wood should the post ever need to be sanded for door fitment (our houses shift quite a lot). The base is secured to the concrete, the filler strip with both physical fasteners as well as adhesive. As Mike said, "It ain't goin' nowhere...". I'm thinking that BamDeck might have all sorts of outdoor uses as a replacement for treated lumber for things like edging strips, planting boxes... Basically, anything you might otherwise cover with wood (being a ground-and-bound composite, it has lower tensile strength than wood, so it'd not be suitable for things like joists... but it has impressive compressive resistance due to its solid nature).
There's still a bit of finishing work to do (filling, caulking, priming, painting) — much of which Mike will take on after Mendi picks a color (perhaps Indigo), so there will be more glamor shots later.
Some more before in and in-process shots below starting with a picture of Mike right before he kicked down the post (yes, there's video).
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